Local first responders return from helping with Florida relief

Parts of Florida are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael. A team of first responders from Idaho is back home after spending two weeks helping out in the hardest hit part of the state.

“We were all there on one mission: to help the people in Bay County, Florida,” said Idaho Falls Fire Chief Dave Hanneman, who was part of the team that went to Florida.

The group of 10 consisted of members from the Idaho Falls Fire and Police departments, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Emergency Management and the Idaho Office of Emergency Management. They helped with recovery in the Mexico Beach area, where they say there was no power and homes and businesses were just gone.

“There were streets that normally had several homes on them and might have one home left,” Hanneman said. “Or one partial home standing. Businesses were wiped out, as well. And then, even when you moved inland, you could see where the water had come up, and we had whole business centers, strip malls and big large centers where they were already collapsed, the whole business.”

The team was in charge of setting up a base camp for 250 other first responders and volunteers. They also helped in the command post, working with other teams from all over the United States. They were there to give some relief to the locals who were working and those who lost everything.

“The locals really appreciated us coming,” Hanneman said. “And we had to integrate with hundreds of people we didn’t know, but the fact that we were all there trying to make it better for them.”

The team worked 220 hours in two weeks. They plan to use their experience back home.

“It will make us much better for when we have flooding in Idaho or big wildfires,” Hanneman said. “We know that it gave us the confidence, that we know that we can help and handle any major event that we have in Idaho now.”

The team was there for the response phase. The next is the recovery phase. They also want to thank local responders and their crews back here at home for filling in while they were gone.